Edward DeBay

This is an excerpt from my first chapter. Immediately after the main character Jay is introduced by mysteriously waking up in an unfamiliar place. Right as he meets Arlo, his accomplice throughout the story. 

Suddenly, screams echoed throughout the salty breeze. Shattering the stillness as his focus broke, snapping his attention down the shore. 
What?!…what is that?! Jay’s mind screamed. 
Viciously rubbing his eyes, he looked back up at the figures closing in. His jaw dropping in bewilderment as he locked onto a small, furry creature running as fast as its little legs could carry it. 
“Help!” The creature yelled out.
What even is that?! Jay anxiously faltered. 
The distressed creature couldn’t have been more than four feet tall. Bottom-heavy like a pear, covered in shabby, golden-brown hair, it resembled a teddy bear more than anything. Its short legs and chubby frame caused it to bob about in a haphazard fashion. As if any step could be its last before tripping over itself, succumbing to the pursuing figures. 
 “Run…start running! They will kill you!” The creature screamed. Jay looked beyond to see the three pursuing soldiers advancing nearer. Covered entirely in black armor, donning masks resembling the husk of a human’s face. The way their hooded disguises swathed tightly around their heads created an extremely disturbing sight.
“Run!” The creature screamed again as he approached. In an instant Jay turned, mustering his strength, he took off as fast as he could. Stammering about as the pebbles shifted awkwardly beneath his feet.
    “Take a right! Go into the woods!” the creature yelled.
“What is going on?! Who are you? Who are those men?” Jay panted in between strides, a hundred questions attempting to escape his mouth at once. 
“They are not men! I promise you they will kill you if they get ahold of us. Now take a right. The forest is dense. We will have an easier time losing them.” The creature barked before gasping for air. 
The forest emitted a dark green glow from its profuse vegetation. The trees were ancient, their gigantic leaves concealing the canopy, hindering any light brave enough to shine through to its floor. Scattered boulders jutted upwards aimlessly. The enormous ferns were as tall as Jay as he pushed what petals he could out of his path. An endless web of vines hung from each branch, creating an intertwining nuisance consuming every inch of ground. Dangling in their path, not a few feet went by where Jay didn’t find himself swatting or maneuvering over a fallen tree or host of snarled vines. 
    The chase was becoming excruciating, but they persisted. Jay's eyes caught something on his side. The creature was now equal to him. His smaller frame allowing him to run directly under everything instead of wasting precious time avoiding the many obstacles. 
“I think we’re losing them,” the creature roared. 
“I can’t see them! I think I can see some bushes still moving farther back, but I’m not sure,” Jay squeaked between breaths. 
“It doesn’t matter, don’t stop. We need to go further into the woods to be safe, trust me,” the creature self-assuredly exhaled. 
Jay and the small being continued to run side by side, ducking, jumping, and wiggling through every tree, ditch, and ravine. 
“Over there,” the creature spoke much softer as he started slowing down.
“Look! That log, It’s hollow. Follow me. I think you can fit if you crouch down.” He said while entering the crevice with ease. Jay had stopped thinking altogether and followed without hesitation. 
“Here, come here, come in more.” 
Jay obeyed. Crouching down, pressing his hands and knees into the soft, damp moss covering the inside of the decaying log, sluggishly crawling into the darkness.  
    The two sat side by side. A dense mustiness surrounding them as Jay took a deep breath of hot air, attempting to gain some composure. He strained to concentrate. He had no thoughts or words. As if he wasn’t distraught enough, it was impossible to think as the cavity drowned in the gasps and pants of the furry being grabbing his chest while settling himself.  
    “Are you going to kill me?” Jay softly spoke.
“Kill you? Good Gods no. Until you started running, I thought you were going to kill me!” The creature remarked. 
“This isn’t real! I got hit by a car, I’m dreaming, no I was drugged! or, or… I’m in a coma. Oh my God I’m in a coma?! I’m going to wake up any second at the hospital,” Jay panicked. 
“Well, I don’t know what a car is, but they sound dangerous… I’m a Makita? You know, a Keeper?” The creature hesitantly stated, looking confused himself. 
 

The Amorian Accords: The Council and the Codex

First Assignment- Story statement:

Jay mysteriously awakes in the kingdom of Amoria. A realm where creatures of myth and legend have lived together in peace under a unifying charter for a century. It is soon realized that his arrival may have more serious consequences than anyone could have imaged. It turns out that Amoria’s peace is as delicate as a thread holding it all together, and with the charter soon set to expire, a substantial changing of the guards is boiling underneath the surface of tranquility. The bizarre markings on Jay’s arm that he discovered when he awoke are ancient, unknown by anyone, they could be the missing piece explaining why the great war started 100 long years ago. All jay wants to do is get home, willing to do whatever it takes to find his way back he is soon pulled into a journey with a rag tag group of outcasts from different kingdoms to retrieve an ancient codex and help save Amoria. This book should be his way home, as long as he can survive long enough to figure out how to use it, all while staying one step ahead from the dreaded vulgary. A group of mysterious sell swords spinning webs of chaos in the shadows. Which way will the council of king’s vote? Will Amoria maintain peace by extending the charter? Or allow it to dissolve, letting the power hungry kings loose across the land? Why Jay? Why does he have these strange markings? And why do these vulgary want the codex so badly?

This book explores identity. Such as one’s true path, destiny, and who controls it? Intention and corruption convoluted with greed and power, where does this power come from? Is it land, resources, or the currency that controls them all? Is it in our nature to chase things we don’t understand? To run from the comfortable, plunging ourselves into chaos chasing what we believe is ultimate peace. How new friendships and past family obligations can manipulate our choices. Are we being contrarians? Or genuinely doing things for us and what we believe is right instead of what’s expected of us. How religious identity and tension can ripple across the beliefs of a culture and have unintended consequences.

Second Assignment- Antagonist:

This book has multiple antagonists, from the vulgary, to Adica, and Tobias Sklar. However, the one thing these all have in common is. They all, in the end, whether they’ll admit it or not, take their orders from Hadrian Kaine. Hadrian is one of the council’s seven kings, ruler of the goblin empire of Gotehba. Hadrian is ruthless, keen in his thoughts and actions, and has a chip on his shoulder the size of a canyon. Livid that his people are still paying for the mistakes of his forefathers, the charter’s reparations imposed on the goblins after the great war almost bankrupted the society entirely. Their ingenuity and grit allowed them to rise however. And Hadrian, being the only democratically elected king in the council believes this is because of him. He was the only one truly chosen by his people. His internal policies have taken his kingdoms infrastructure to a level thought impossible. Creating a national pride for the first time in centuries. He views the charter as a prison, plotting for years to ensure it dissolves. Finally giving his kingdom the opportunity to expand to more prosperous lands and take control of what is rightfully theirs. He is truly a master of puppets, guiding multiple avenues of controlled opposition through years of proper planning. Little does anyone know that there are few places left in Amoria without his eyes and ears. Because of this, both the kings attempting to keep the charter enforce, along with jay and his group travelling to find the codex will all face numerous obstacles, all somehow tracing back to Hadrian and his perfectly laid plans.

Third Assignment- Title:   

The Amorian Accords: The Council and the Codex*

Dear Archaism

South of Nothing

The Tenth Codex

Fourth Assignment- Two comparable works:  

The Bladeborn saga – T.C. edge 

The Shadow of the god’s series- John Gwynne

Fifth Assignment- Hook line of conflict and core wound:

Jay awakes in the mysterious kingdom of Amoria with no recollection of how he got there. Where creatures from myth and legend don’t just live, they thrive. Believing it is his only way home, he is pulled into a quest to find the fabled tenth codex before the villainous faction known as the vulgary finds it first. Accompanied by a ragtag group of individuals from different kingdoms all running from their own troubles. Jay must figure out what the mysterious markings on his arm mean, and learn to use the power they hold to protect his new friends. All while the council’s kings meet to uphold or disband a charter that’s held peace for a century, potentially shifting the very landscape around him as he makes his journey home. Jay is unknowingly at the start of a cataclysmic holy war engulfing the entirety of Amoria, threatening everyone, and possibly, even, our world next.

Sixth Assignment- Inner conflict:

Jay internally battles the failure he feels from constantly running from life’s problems. Even before he arrives, he’s running. Not willing to sit within the uncomfortable situation of his parent’s death he flees north to clear his mind. This lands him in Amoria, and from the very moment he awakes on the beach he begins running once again. Then whether it be Hannibal, the Kenla, Bavel, or the vulgary, he is physically or metaphorically running. Consistently building up this feeling of anxiety and inadequacy. And the thought lingers, that even if he can find his way home, his parents won’t be there. Settling in the concept that no matter where he goes, he’ll be there. This builds up until the climax, when he sees his friends in danger, and Arlo unable to help. Something finally awakens within him. Compelling him to burst through the door and for once, towards the conflict instead of away from it.

Seventh Assignment- Setting:

The Land of Amoria is not just where this story takes place. From its formation, to where it is and what it stands for, to how it was forgotten, the physical and cultural institutions within it play just as big of a role within this story as any other. Not only will Amoria’s rich past significantly come into play, but the current geopolitical landscape could alter the playbook the characters are accustomed too. Amoria’s landscape and kingdoms are beautifully unique and intricate, and all new and amazing to Jay, but on top of this strange new world. The very borders and rules of engagement could start to change underneath him during his journey home.